James Mullins - The Winter Sniper

From behind the safety of his chosen tree, Maki made eye contact with Hale and said, “Wait until they are abreast of us, and then let them have it.”

“Yes sir.” Hale responded.

Each second seemed to take a small eternity as they slowly ticked by. Finally, the ragged line of retreating Soviets drew near. Maki moved from behind the tree he was using as cover and opened fire on a dozen Russians as they ran by. The fleeing Soviets were quickly cut down by his attack.

This caused another nearby group, who were beginning to rally and slow their headlong rush away from Kivennapa, to resume their flight. Hale opened fire on this group, sending many of them to their grave. The rest dove to the ground seeking any shred of cover that would protect them from this unexpected assault.

The two men quickly spent their bullets and ducked back behind the trees they were using as cover. Maki ejected the magazine from his gun and slammed a new one home. Hale looked over at him and said, “I don’t have another magazine for this gun.”

“See what you can do with your rifle, I’ll cover you.” Maki ordered.

Hale slipped the PPD 34 onto his left shoulder, and pulled his rifle off his right. Now armed with a loaded weapon, he peered around the tree. The young Finnish sniper immediately spotted at least a dozen different Soviets in full flight from the village. He raised his rifle and began taking shots at the fleeing men. One by one, with the occasional miss, he cut down the retreating invaders. Panic intensified as the fleeing soldiers quickly realized that they were now taking fire from the west as well as from the village to the north.

When his rifle let out a metal ping, informing him that his magazine had been spent, Hale slipped behind the tree once again cover. Protected from the enemies’ return fire, he grimaced at the intense pain his wounded shoulder was emitting. He glanced down at his shoulder, a small blood stain had become visible on his white great coat, That can’t be good, but I must continue fighting.

Nearby, several Russian officers realized the shift in behavior of their fleeing men and noticed the new direction that they were taking fire from. Having held an entire battalion in reserve, the Soviet brigade commander, Colonel Ivkin, decided to put his three hundred men to good use. Especially since they would not be required to press home the attack on Kivennapa. Turning to his aide he ordered, “Prikazat’ lyudyam atakovat na zapad k finskoy linil tam!”

The aide nodded at the order, turned around and made eye contact with the reserve battalion’s commanding officer, a major, pointed in the direction of Maki and Hale, and blew his whistle.

The Major drew his pistol, turned to his men, and pointed in the direction of Hale and Maki with the weapon as he screamed, “Ataka!”

The men let out a fierce roar and charged toward the two Finns. Maki, a brand-new magazine in his PPD 34, emerged from behind the tree he had been using as cover and emptied the clip into the densely packed Russians as they charged.

As the Lieutenant cut down at least two dozen of the enemy, Hale emerged from his own hiding place. He selectively used his rifle to take out several Russians that had stopped rushing forward and were taking aim at Maki with their rifles. As soon as Maki expended his clip, he slipped back behind the tree into cover. As Maki ejected his second clip, and slammed the third and last one home, Hale continued to rapidly kill the enemy with his Mosin-Nagant.

With Maki out of sight, the advancing battalion forgot that he existed and turned their ire toward Hale. As bullets began buzzing through the air and striking the trees all around Hale, the young sniper was forced to take cover behind a tree. As Hale disappeared from sight, Maki emerged from his hiding place and laid down fire once. The Soviet advanced stalled momentarily under Maki’s withering fire. Unfortunately for the Finns, the Russians, were better prepared for Maki’s sudden appearance. They instantly reacted to the fresh attack by diving for the ground and seeking the whatever cover the frozen forest could provide. As a result, the Finnish officer was only able to wound about a dozen of the enemy soldiers.

The moment Maki’s clip was expended the Russians roared and charged toward him, firing as they came. Once again, the Finnish Lieutenant was forced to seek cover as dozens of bullets slammed into the tree he was using for cover. The Russians, intent on taking down the man who had killed so many of their comrades, ignored Hale’s efforts with his rifle to stem the tide rushing toward his commanding officer.

Hale’s mind raced, They’re going to reach Maki! As the advancing line drew within fifty feet of Maki’s position, Hale began to throw his grenades at the charging Soviets. One after another the grenades detonated sending shrapnel and death buzzing through the frigid forest.

The Russians that weren’t immediately killed by the explosions or were cut down by the shrapnel, dove to the ground seeking cover from this new attack. Several of them noticed Hale ducking back behind a tree and screamed in outrage. Overwhelmed by the urge to avenge their fallen comrades, they leapt to their feet and charged toward the young Finn.

Desperate to stop the onslaught, Hale started shooting at the advancing horde with his rifle. He worked the bolt of his rifle as quickly as humanly possible; it was not nearly enough. Maki, now free to act thanks to Hale, and desperate to help his subordinate, drew his pistol. He rapidly emptied the clip into the backs of the advancing Russians. He was rewarded with a red-hot fiery pain that slammed into him, knocking him over.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hale saw Maki go down. Expending the magazine on his rifle, he dropped the weapon to the ground and drew his own pistol to make a final stand against the oncoming horde, There’s just too many!

Hale pulled the slide back on his luger, took a deep breath, and peered around the tree. A dozen Russians, their faces red with rage, charged toward him less than ten feet away. I’m going to die. God please keep my family and Nea safe.

As he made his mental prayer, Hale stepped out from behind the tree, raised his pistol at the approaching Russians, and fired in rapid succession. Luckily for him, the squad of enemy soldiers was so close to him, that those further back, couldn’t get a clean shot at him. He emptied his pistol into the advancing squad of enemy soldiers. The luger just wasn’t fast enough to stem the tide.

The first Russian to reach him, was a six-foot-tall brute with broad shoulders. The brute, flung himself through the air at Hale. The Finnish sniper tried to swing his pistol toward the left to shoot the large Russian, it was too late. Hale was knocked flat and dropped his pistol as the big man crashed into him. As Hale’s back struck the hard-frozen earth, the air in his lungs was squeezed out of him, leaving him breathless.

Gasping for air Hale gazed up into the eyes of the enraged enemy soldier, who now lay on top of him brandishing a knife. The Russian, who was missing several teeth, smiled down at him for a long moment before he raised the blade above his head with both hands. The Russian was clearly moving to plunge the ten-inch blade into Hale as has hard as he could. Hale, powerless to stop the large Russian, closed his eyes waiting for the blow that would end his life. Nea, I’m sorry I won’t be coming back to you like I promised.

Hale’s thoughts drifted back to the final moment they were together. He had just hugged his family goodbye. Following Finnish custom, they turned away from Hale to give him a private moment with Nea, but remained on the train station platform a few feet away. Turning to Nea, Hale pulled her into an embrace, they were both crying. Stepping back, she looked up at him with her emerald orbs and said, “Promise me you will come back to me. I can’t imagine a life without you.”